Niger welcomes German Foreign minister

After visiting Mali, Germany’s top diplomat  Annalena Baerbock  was in Niger as part of her tour to strengthen her country’s relations with leaders in the Sahel region.

In the capital, Niamey, Baerbock met with the president Mohamed Bazoum and they mainly discussed about terrorist attacks in the country and climate change, something particularly  precious in the eyes of the Green party politician.

"As German Foreign Minister, I am very pleased that, in addition to the major issue of climate protection, where we as Germany want to provide strong support in the next few years, and also want to support security, that education is such a major topic for the president, and we will provide support, because education is the most important thing for young people, and that also unites our two countries."

Her visit comes amid in a delicate context for Europeans in the Sahel region. France's recent decision to depart its troops from neighboring Mali amid tensions with the arrival of Russian private military companies triggered a domino effect. The latest example came this week with the block deciding to stop training soldiers there.

Baerbock also met her counterpart, Hassoumi Massaoudou and reminded Berlin had given 100 million euros assistance for the displaced in the region.

The minister who also visited families and children in southwestern Niger also pledged to provide an additional 15 million euro to support the UN World Food Programme in combating the food crisis.